Gaza rockets bring Israel reprisal threat

Middle East Correspondent

An Israeli man inspects the damage to his house following a rocket attack on the Israeli Kibbutz Ein Shlosha from the neighbouring Gaza Strip, on October 24, 2012. Photo: AFP

Jerusalem: ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened ''more extensive and deeper action'' against militants in the Gaza Strip after 79 rockets and mortar shells were fired into southern Israel on Wednesday.

''We neither chose nor initiated this escalation but … whoever intends to attack Israeli citizens needs to know that he will bear the consequences,'' Mr Netanyahu warned on a tour of Israel's Iron Dome defence system in the southern city of Ashkelon.

Three foreign workers were injured, two seriously, in one of the rocket strikes, several houses were damaged and the Israel Defence Force confirmed an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded near the Gaza border fence.

Retaliatory air strikes in Gaza's north killed four Palestinians - including three militants - and injured eight, medical authorities in Gaza reported.

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The IDF targeted two militant squads in the northern Gaza Strip as they were preparing to fire rockets towards Israel, as well as smuggling tunnels and five other ''terror sites'', said its spokeswoman, Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich.

A Palestinian source said a ceasefire negotiated by Egypt came into force later, and the IDF said no further firing of missiles was detected from 7.30pm local time.

Since the beginning of the year, nearly 550 rockets and missiles had been launched from Gaza, Colonel Leibovich said.

Hamas usually distances itself from rocket fire from Gaza, but this week its al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the roadside bomb detonated near the Israeli soldier.

The escalation in hostilities began just hours after the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, became the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas took control of the 42-kilometre-long coastal strip in June 2007.

Sheikh Hamad has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for construction projects in Gaza - much of it aimed at rebuilding infrastructure damaged in Israel's Operation Cast Lead offensive in December 2008 and January 2009.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said: ''When the Emir of Qatar comes with lots of money and donates it for construction, we have no problem with that. But … that money isn't being used for construction but rather to fire and to kill.''

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the IDF was working against ''all the terror elements'' operating out of Gaza. ''Since the beginning of the month, 15 active terrorists have been killed in the act, and more have been injured,'' he said.

Asked on Israel Radio if Israel was considering military operations on the ground in Gaza, Mr Barak said: ''If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation.''

Thirteen kilometres from Egypt and just over four kilometres from Gaza, the residents of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak have become accustomed to the rocket fire from Gaza over the past three years, one resident, Janet Swierzenski, said.

''Today our friends on the other side [in Gaza] woke us at 5am with rockets. We were asleep, the children were asleep, and everybody rushed into the shelter until 7.30am,'' she said.

''When the Israeli army fires into the [Gaza] Strip and they fight back it feels something like ping-pong - back and forth,'' Ms Swierzenski said.

The chief Palestinian Authority negotiator, Saeb Erekat, called on Israel to refrain from escalating its attacks against Gaza.